Stefanie Shall Florida Community College, Class of 2007 A.S. Degree Digital Multimedia

Painting On A Digital Canvas

Stefanie Shall
Florida Community College, Class of 2007
Associate in Science Degree, Digital Multimedia

When Stefanie Shall was a little girl growing up in Michigan, she dreamed of becoming a paleontologist, studying dinosaurs and fossils. By the time she had reached high school, however, it was her artistic talents that caught the eye of her teachers. Several suggested she’d have a great future teaching art. While teaching wasn’t for Stefanie, their encouraging words inspired her to seriously think about her art not just as hobby, but as a career.

In 2004, two years after she and her fiancé — now husband — moved to Jacksonville to be with her parents, Stefanie felt settled enough to resume college. She figured Florida Community College would be a good place to start taking classes before transferring to a major university. Looking to expand her artistic talents, Stefanie enrolled in FCCJ’s Digital Multimedia associate degree program. Her plans to transfer soon changed. “I found that staying here was the best choice because the digital department was incredibly strong and it taught me everything I needed to know — at a better price than a university,” she says.

Stefanie’s talents in the classroom earned her a full Talent Grant, which covers all of her tuition and book costs. “I couldn’t ask for anything more,” she says. “The faculty members are great and very helpful, and the classes are in-depth and precise.”

Hoping to get involved on campus, Stefanie thought about joining a club, but she didn’t find anything that she was interested in. So she started her own — the FCCJ Anime Club. “For a long time Japanese animation, anime, hasn’t been taken seriously, but I wanted to show people that it’s so much more than just English-dubbed shows like ‘Dragon Ball Z’ and ‘Sailor Moon,’” she says. Stefanie estimates that in the two years since the club’s inception, at least 150 students have attended meetings.

In the fall of 2005, as the Anime Club grew and her success in the classroom continued, Stefanie was dealt a harsh blow. Her mother was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer — it would only be a few months later in December when she passed away. Stefanie worked hard through her grief, taking a full course-load, running the club and working as a student assistant at the Deerwood Center. “It’s difficult not having her around to share all my successes with,” Stefanie admits.

And there are plenty to share. In November, Jacksonville will host the Janicon anime convention for the first time and Stefanie will be there, representing the club and talking about FCCJ’s multimedia and arts programs. She has also been invited to show her own work, which she exhibits on her Web site.

After she graduates this spring, Stefanie hopes to get a job in digital multimedia, in either video production or computer animation. She knows her mother would have been proud of her. “She encouraged me to do the very best that I could do,” Stefanie says. “I do everything for her, in her memory.”